It looks like the merge between Yahoo and Bing is upon us. This month and through September Bing will begin serving all Yahoo search results, as previously discussed at Bing Teams up with Yahoo. Once this is completely finalized, then Bing is estimated to power about 30% of search queries worldwide, and that's nothing to sneeze at.
It's a good time to check your rankings in Bing and Yahoo and see where you stand. Usually, for my sites anyway, it is much easier to rank with Yahoo and Bing than Google, yet this is not a rule. One thing I know for sure is that Bing loves content, so add more to your thin sites, learn more at how to create and rank inner website pages. For on-site SEO, if you are optimizing for Google, then your fine with Bing as well.
Aaron Wall of SEO Book says:
Even though usage is lower, the user demographic for Bing is different to that of Google. Ask search marketers and you'll get anecdotal evidence that Bing/Yahoo users don't tend to be as web savvy as Google users, use the web less often, are more likely to click on ads, and are more likely to be involved in online shopping, whilst Google appeals more to researchers, webheads and geeks. If you're engaged in web commerce, you need to be thinking about Bing.
Bing Webmaster Help Document Says:
Because of this new way of thinking about search, some webmasters might initially be concerned that the shortened primary organic listing in the new Bing SERP might render their SEO efforts as less effective. Instead, Bing makes it easier to compete for broad terms because it surfaces more categories automatically, increasing the number of results on the page and generating more relevant content.
Ranking in Bing - Key Points
Overall, the same elements that help with ranking in Google, will take of care of Bing as well.
1. On Site SEO
Title tags, descriptive and well targeted meta descriptions, image alt tags and unique, relevant and fresh content that is related to the site's topics are all important for ranking in Bing.
2. Aged Domains
Bing seems to favor age of domain as a sign of authority.
3. Link Building
In my experience Bing counts a lot more links than Google, but they also favor links from relevant topic pages, not overall site themes, but the actual page the link is sitting on and how much it relates to the site it's linking to.
Make sure to sign up and submit your sites to Bing Webmaster Tools as with Google Webmaster Tools you can see any issues that Bing has with your sites, and also I find that when I submit my websites to them they get indexed faster than letting their bots find it on their own.
And, be sure to check out Bing Webmaster Center Blog, there are lots of tips and posts about ranking in Bing. Also, check out Bing Webmaster Help - lots of information there too.
Learn More:
Forum discussions about this at WebmasterWorld & Search Engine Roundtable Forums.
Follow Me on Twitter @: linknami
(4 comments)
I would like to see yahoo and bing making a big move on google, so that there will be some competition for google at least.
Bottom Line: people who use Bing/Yahoo are more STUPID than folks using Google.
Since my business thrives on SMART people, ones who don’t like Cheesy music, this means I focus on Google.
@ DJs
LOL, well, I guess it can be put that way, I don’t know some of my sites get most of their traffic from Bing, and it converts, so Im not complaining.
@ Andreas I agree with you Google needs better competitors, so Google will consider conveyed plans from end user.
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Follow Me on Twitter @: AMater
(17 comments)
Quite interesting news, JR. The funny thing is that I don’t show up at all on the first page for my main keywords on either Bing or Yahoo. Figure that one out. But, at the same time an inner page ranks on the first page of Bing for “article marketing.” I didn’t even know this until someone else pointed it out to me lol. Weird how that works.
Alan Mater – Work From Home recently posted..July 2010 Income Report and Update
@ Alan
lol, well, check again like mid September, I think that while they’re ironing out the details they may be all over the place. Its definitely worth your while to check into your rankings over there.
Follow Me on Twitter @: DennisEdell
(35 comments)
The links are much appreciated since I haven’t even seen Bing yet, lol.
It’s all good for me, with my new e-commerce site about to launch.
Dennis Edell | Direct Sales Marketing recently posted..Update 1 – What DEDC is About
@ Dennis
For me, since Google Mayday anyway, Bing has been providing much better results that Google, with Google I am finding myself on Page 5+ lately and I know others feel the same way.
Follow Me on Twitter @: AMater
(17 comments)
Will do. I know I do get some traffic from Bing right now, but Google serves the majority of my traffic. 30% is still a big deal and worth looking into.
Alan Mater – Work From Home recently posted..Marketing Your Online Business Effectively
@ Alan
Definitely worth it, all the traffic we can get
Follow Me on Twitter @: sqlsteps
(1 comments)
So, it means that if one could do proper SEO for Bing and Yahoo then one certainly will be in profits. Now I start my Bing so right from Today
Why do you suppose Bing puts more emphasis on domain age compared to other search engines? Personally that’s just as simple as buying an aged domain, and putting a 301 redirect to your existing domain.
Adam – Internet Product Review Marketer recently posted..JV Attraction Formula Review
@ Adam
Well Google loves aged domains too, it’s a trust thing overall, most spam and crappy sites don’t last long, and they think that age is one of the indicators of stability.
Follow Me on Twitter @: affiliatelogix
(1 comments)
It’s good news for everyone. Bing should at least provide some decent competition to Google after this merger. As a search marketer I’m looking forward to this, both yahoo and Bing perform well so me but the problem is always volume in teh smaller niches. If Bing can steal another 10% from Google then it becomes very viable.
Steve – Affiliate Marketing recently posted..How to Make Money on YouTube
@ Steve
I agree, the volumes are low, they really just seem to supplement, yeah an extra 10% or 15% would be great
There’s no way bing and/or yahoo could compete with google…
Well I think no one can beat Google and it will take a long time for yahoo and Bing to compete with Google .
Follow Me on Twitter @: webmaster_serve
(9 comments)
It seems the days of ignoring Bing are just about over now as there are some major changes rolling out now…
UK webmaster forum recently posted..Find out how you can Make Money ID 18107
I’ve really been hurt by this. I had several sites at #1 on Yahoo, but nowhere on Bing, and those Yahoo customers really liked to buy. My income has tanked ever since this has been implemented. Am now scrambling to get Bing to rank me, but it’s quite difficult. Not sure exactly what their criteria for ranking is.
Teatree recently posted..Zigging while everyone Zags
@ Teatree
Im sorry you are having trouble, read over some of the information and do the research, it might just a matter of time before the search results calm down and line up on Bing.
It’s about time google had some competition,however it’s going to be hard for them to compete!
Peter Dunin recently posted..Featured Post Of the Week
@ Peter
Yes it will be.
Google Instant is out now…time to start ignoring Bing again!!!
The next competitor of Google is Bing. Good tips to optimize your site for Bing.
Most of the webmaster do not try to optimize their sites with respect to Bing and Yahoo Search Engines.They only focus on Google but they can also get financial benefits if they work with reference of these two search engines.
I think Bing will become a big competitor, but there isn’t a lot of literature on how to optimize for it.
John @ Sacramento SEO Services recently posted..Hello world!
It is good to work with Bing but 90% traffic and online business is controlled by the Google.Because of this reason most of the online entrepreneurs are doing work by keeping the Google as reference.
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